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History - obviously everything
has a reason
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History is one of the major reasons.
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Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj
they came with a message.
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They spread it.
There was no sikhi before them.
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There were people that were talking
philosophies that were similar to this.
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But it wasn't a holistic approach like
Guru Ji bought.
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They spread it.
All the Gurus’ spread it.
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Guru Amar Das Ji set up 150 preachers -
52 were women.
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They sent women out
to preach Sikhi.
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Their daughters were preachers.
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So the Gurus are very big preachers.
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Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji went out preaching to
Assam - places far far away from Central
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Look at Patna Sahib, it's not near Punjab.
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Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji set that up
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as a place for loads for Sikhs
at Patna Sahib
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Hazur Sahib - Guru Gobind Singh Ji
set that up around that area.
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So, the Guru’s all travelled.
They went out spreading Sikhi.
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And they sent people out to Afghanistan
and places like that to spread Sikhi.
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Now, what’s happened since 1745,
The 1740s, is -
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Baba Deep Singh Ji for example, they
wrote out Guru Granth Sahib Ji in Arabic.
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They sent It out -
they were keen to preach Sikhi.
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Sikhs didn’t used to say we don’t preach.
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Now what’s happened is, most of us say
"we don’t preach”.
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Do you agree with that?
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Nowadays most Sikhs say
“we don’t preach”.
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Who do you think told us
we don’t preach?
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Our Gurus’ never said it.
The Guru’s actually went out to preach.
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They travelled everywhere.
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Guru Ji went to Sri Lanka.
They went all over.
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So who told us that we don’t preach?
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The British.
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The British came to Punjab.
Took over the Punjab Kingdom in 1850s.
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So from 1745, from the Guru’s time -
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what you see from 1708 is the Sikhs’
being persecuted.
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And even when they’re persecuted
they’re still bringing it up.
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So for the next 100 years -
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Let’s say you go upto from 1400s to 1700.
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It’s the Guru Period.
Sikhi is growing, it’s great.
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For the next 100 years upto 1800
you have got persecution.
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Sikhs being killed everywhere.
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1900s - what you’ve got is the
British coming over in the
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In the 1850s, they took over
and what did they do?
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They started to destroy Sikhi.
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They started to kill all the Nihang Singhs
- as many as they could.
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That believed in the
ShastarDhari Khalsa way.
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They killed a lot of them.
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They fought against them and
they killed them.
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Also, they started to preach Christianity.
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And they told us lot -
like a Jedi mind trick
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Have you seen Star Wars?
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Where he goes
“these are not the droids you seek”.
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They go
“these are not the droids that we seek”.
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It's a Jedi mind trick. They say
“you guys, don’t preach your religion”.
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And we went
"we don't preach our religion”.
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And that was it.
It became a Punjabi religion.
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It no longer became an Indian religion,
spreading out in the whole of India.
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It became a Punjabi religion.
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The British made us into Punjabis.
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They moved us away from Sikhi
into Punjabis.
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They said you guys all live in Punjab,
you guys have got your geography.
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Because the British were very good
at categorizing what people were
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And then you got votes based upon who
you were.
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So they were like "you guys are Hindus,
you guys are Sikhs"
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You don’t want to spread out here -
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and take over the Hindus
or become bigger.
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You stay where you are - Punjab.
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Basically the British told us
we don’t preach.
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So one of the biggest things -
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For the last, since 1850 when they
took over Ranjit Singh's Raj (Rule),
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then they said
"you guys join the British army"
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Become Sikhs in the Army, so now
we got institutionalised.
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Took Amrit but we follow the British way.
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The British said "you guys are warriors”
we said “yes we’re warriors”.
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We had Mahapurkhs and Sanths,
but they said you guys are warrior race,
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so we started believing
we're a warrior race.
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But we’re not a race.
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We’re a Dharam.
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Punjabis might be a race.
We are not a race.
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We are people that follow the philosophy
of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj.
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The teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
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We are a Chela.
We are Chele of the Guru.
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We are not a race.
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We have characteristics, we have a culture
that comes from our Gurus.
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But anybody can join -
you can’t change a race can you?
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You can now if you become a Sikh.
It’s a weird system.
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Anyway the point is that Sikhi was
constricted by them
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and limited off to one place.
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Then since India Independence
you've seen what's happened in Punjab.
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The race thinking was stuck there,
people thought we’re Punjabis.
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And then Indian people when they
got independence,
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they messed the Sikhs over.
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Took away the land and then split Punjab.
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Punjab used to look a bit
like a butterfly.
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Now guess how much of it remains.
First they chopped off
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First they chopped off two wings.
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Then from this wing they chopped off
here and there.
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Now you got this much -
like the left hand side.
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Even Lahore, the Capital of the Sikh
Kingdom in Ranjit Singh’s time -
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is now in Pakistan.
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Ranjit Singh’s Raj was in Lahore.
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Amritsar was a Spiritual Capital for us.
It was the Sikh Capital.
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But not the Political Kingdom of the Raj.
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So they're basically massively split and
since 1984 you’ve seen what’s happened.
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Sikhs are basically - they’re trying to
kill Sikhi off in Punjab.
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So firstly we've had external enemies
suppressing us.
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Also internally our thinking has changed.
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They changed our thinking to not think
that we are an expansionist religion.
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But Guru Sahib was very expansionist.
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You don't appoint 150 preacher if you
don’t intend to expand.
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You don’t send Bhai Gunda Ji to
Afghanistan to preach,
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if you don't want to bring in people from
Afghanistan into Sikhi.
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Guru Ji did that.
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Look around us, what are we doing?
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Us British Sikhs -
the bastion of Sikhi in the world.
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We are really doing great stuff here
in our Gurudware, aren’t we?
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The youth don't understand Sikhi.
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The committees are too involved
in fighting amongst themselves.
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Every Gurudwara is trying to build
an even bigger Gurudwara,
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rather than teach classes.
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You can go to a Gurudwara nowadays
and you will have amazing halls
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and amazing glass windows,
amazing wooden architecture.
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You can't find a classroom.
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You're like "hold on,
you say Guru is my teacher"
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“You say a Sikh is a student"
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Where’s the classes?
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How many of you can go
to your local Gurudwara
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and sign up for a course on Sikhi?
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Say a 6 week course, 12 week course -
can you sign up for one?
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How many of you think you can
sign up for one of those in a mosque?
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How many institutions do you think
exist in this country
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to teach Islam to newcomers?
-
Quite a lot.
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How many exist to teach
Sikhi to a newcomer?
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Very little. Nothing.
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People are white and Sikh and
people are black who are Sikh -
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but they are only through luck.
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None of them ever got approached by
someone and said " you should be a Sikh”.
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“You got the right mentality"
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We never approach them.
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Maharaaj goes around traveling,
looking for Gurmukhs.
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We are scared to follow Sikhi ourselves.
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We're not those kind of people that walk
around saying the praise of our Doctor.
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If you go to a doctor in the world
and he fixes you,
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100% if you meet somebody else who’s
got the same disease as you,
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you're going to tell that person
go to that doctor, aren’t you?
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Of course you will.
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We don't believe in our doctor
all the time.
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We don't follow our doctor.
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We find it very hard to go and tell
other people to follow this doctor.
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But if we really cared about that person
and they are diseased and they have Ego.
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What’s the solution then?
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You will earn the Guru's words,
the Guru’s Bani.
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What does it mean to earn Bani?
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It means to live it.
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You’ve got the instructions,
now you follow them.
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So we don't really believe in
spreading this either.
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In this class, most of you guys know
about Dasam Duar?
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Obviously who are you to blame?
Who’s to blame?
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Our leadership.
our leaders who say that
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Our leaders who say that "we are
the caretakers of the Guru's school."
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Because the Guru is a teacher
so it must be a school.
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They said we’re the school caretakers.
Guess who runs the school?
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Not a head teacher.
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The only person worthy of running a school
is a head teacher.
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You agree with me?
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Would you put the administrators
in charge of a school? No.
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Who should run a school?
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Somebody who's worked on the ground
all the way up to become a head teacher.
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Who is concerned about teaching.
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How many people in their Gurudwara have
seen their Pardhaans talk about Sikhi?
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How many Pardhaans, on a regular basis,
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come into the Gurudwara and
teach Sikhi to the Sangat?
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How many of them are involved in running
charities or Seva projects?
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So how come they run the Gurudware?
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The dministrators have got into the
Gurudwara and started running Gurudware.
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Admin people.
What do you think a Secretary is?
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Admin person.
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President is not a president.
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He's the main person who runs all
the admin people.
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The real people who run a Gurudwara,
-
are the people that are either teaching
Kirtan or singing Kirtan
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or reading the Paath, explaining the Paath.
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Or making the Langar, or doing all the
dishes and cleaning and washing up.
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They're the people that make the
Gurudwara run.
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These people that sit up in an office,
they don't make the Gurudwara run.
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They’re the admin people.
Now the admin people run the Gurudwara.
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So we got "the tail wagging the dog”.
You heard that saying?
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They’re supposed to be wagged by the dog
but unfortunately they’re wagging the dog.
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They tell the Bhatti - who knows the Paath
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This guy knows more Bani than all those
people sitting on the table,
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and he’s bringing them cups of tea.
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You can see what's happening now.
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So it’s our fault as well.
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These Gurudware are completely messed up.
We're not doing anything ourselves.
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And it's on you guys.
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I’m sorry to put it on you
because I see it's upon me as well.
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I don't see myself as
different from you guys.
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The only difference me and you is
about 10 years - that's nothing really
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I see you guys having the same
responsibility that I have.
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Learn some of this knowledge.
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I didn't get this from magic.
It isn't that hard.
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13 years ago I didn't know the
Gurmukhi alphabet.
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I didn't understand a single bit
of Bani.
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13 years from now you could be
teaching people across the globe as well.
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Sikhi is easy to follow and live.
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It’s difficult and simple as well,
it's both.
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It can't be classified.
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It's on your responsibility as well.
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If you see a problem, solve it.
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We saw a problem - no one knew what
Sikhi was so we made those leaflets.
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Singh sitting here did all the
graphic design and made it.
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We could have put anything in there,
nothing’s complicated in there.
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One God. One human race.
You can connect to God.
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Guru Nanak Dev ji traveled.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji made Harmandir Sahib.
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Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji made a mosque.
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Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji gave Shaheedi.
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That’s just basics and that's why
it’s called Basics of Sikhi.
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People don't know the basics.
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We have Langar, Raag Kirtan,
Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
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Job done.
Go on YouTube and learn more.
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You see a problem in this
House of Guru Nanak Dev Ji -
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try to fix the problem.
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Don’t just say
"how come Sikhi has not spread”
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Say “how can I spread Sikhi”.
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It's not that hard.
People buy Sikhi.
-
We’ve had people become Sikhs.
Would you believe it - white and black people.
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Would you believe it - white and black people.
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They started watching these videos and
they go “I want to be a Sikh.”
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“How do I become a Sikh?”
-
We had people message us and say
"I want to be a Sikh."
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I read that email out to you recently.
Some guy from California - he emailed us.
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He goes “I watch your videos,
I want to be a Sikh."
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He said: “It was amazing. It changed my life."
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Now I didn't change his life, did I.
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Who am I to change anybody’s life?
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He changed my life.
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I'm plugging the doctor.
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They say
"I want to have that doctor as well”.
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That is what’s happening here.
-
People are coming and saying
“I want that guy as my doctor as well"
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"I think he can fix me."
And he can fix them.
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But this is just one channel.
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How many channels do you think exist
to preach Islam?
-
How many channels do you think exist
to preach Christianity?
-
The major religions.
Let’s look at the major religions.
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How many of the Buddhists travel
around the world meeting the top leaders?
-
Buddhist is a big religion as well.
They’ve got a billion of them.
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How many thousand years did it take them?
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We’ve only been around for 500 years.
Most of that has been under conflict.
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Where we are now - we're not teaching the
meaning of it to most people.
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Our Gurudware are run by the wrong people.
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If we change that around in
the next 100 years, Sikhi would fly.
-
Change the leadership into people that
follow Sikhi.
-
Make the focus about spreading and
explaining Sikhi to everybody else -
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like we do Street Parchar.
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Have you seen those videos
about Street Parchar?
-
Do that, in every city, every town.
-
Have open days, bring people in,
invite them, teach them the meanings.
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Explain it simply like this.
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This is your disease.
This is the problem you’re suffering.
-
The real root cause is this “Ego”.
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You will be able to solve this
if you connect to God.
-
You have this on top of your head
(Dasam Daur) - let’s meditate.
-
Why don't you do some Seva?
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Go serve some food to people.
You will feel better about yourself.
-
You feel good if you do Seva.
-
They do this and they go
“Sikhi really works."
-
I feel connected to God.
I feel like I'm a better person.
-
I'm starting to lose my connection and
when I say “Vaheguru”, I feel great.
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I feel Bliss.
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The Khalsa won’t be oppressed.
-
It won’t be the bottom of someone's shoe
,like it is now.
-
It will rule the world.
-
Who will rule?
The Khalsa.
-
But do we even know what the Khalsa is?
-
This is what the Khalsa starts off with.
-
A diseased person that wants to get better
goes to the guru and says sort me out.
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Make me like you .
Make me free of this disease.
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Save me.
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It's history.
It's our problem.
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The solution is there as well,
how to solve it - it’s all there.
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[Waheguru]